The Godmother
by VIE18
Summary: What if there had been a better place for Dawn to hide from Glory? If so, then what would've happened if she had left Sunnydale?
1. Chapter 1 – Memories

_**Chapter 1 – Memories**_

 _ **I do not own anything in this story. NCIS: Los Angeles belongs to Shane Brennan. Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon.**_

This story is about death. It begins, and ends with death. That is all you need to… Wait, you actually want to hear the whole story? Why would you want that? I've already told you everything you… Ok, fine, sheesh. I'll start over.

The Godmother

It started out as a normal day at Naval Criminal Investigative Services, or NCIS as it was commonly called. The team was in the OP center, receiving a briefing on the home invasion of the daughter of Senator Lockhart, when Hetty got the call.

Born at the end of the World War II and a veteran of the Cold War, Henrietta Lange wasn't someone you should cross, even if she was only 4' 9". With her brunette hair, round thick rimmed glasses, and sharp suit, it was clear that she was in charge.

"Hello?" asked Hetty.

"This is Sunnydale Hospital. I'm sorry to tell you that Joyce Summers died this afternoon."

A stab of grief pierced Hetty's heart. It had been almost five years since Joyce had left L.A. in search of a new start. She had kept up semi-regular correspondence since her departure, but recently she hadn't heard that much from the Summers family.

Turning away from the rest of the group, Hetty had to take a deep breath before continuing.

"How did she die?"

"Mrs. Summers recently had a brain tumor removed. She died of an aneurysm, a sudden hemorrhaging from a ruptured arterial vessel near where the tumor was removed," the nurse answered.

"Forgive my bluntness, but why are you calling me about this? I am fairly certain I am not recorded as her next of kin. " wondered Hetty.

"No, you are not. However you are listed as next of kin for the late Mrs. Summers daughter, Dawn. Since we have been unable to locate the girl's father, Hank Summers, the responsibility falls to you if Dawn's older sister is unwilling to care for her," the nurse explained.

"Thank you for informing me. Have a pleasant day," said Hetty.

After hanging up, Hetty turned to find the rest of the team watching her anxiously.

"Anyone we know?" G. Callan asked cautiously.

"No, Mr. Callan, just an old friend of mine. Apparently I may receive custody of her daughter, Dawn," Hetty informed them.

"Why would you get custody of her? Doesn't she have family?" Marty Deeks wondered.

"Only an older sister, Elizabeth," Hetty sighed.

"How long are you going to be gone?" asked Sam Hanna.

"I don't know," Hetty answered.

The Godmother

Of all the horrible things Dawn had been through, this was definitely on her top 10 list.

She had just had to sit through her own mother's funeral, and now instead of letting her grieve in peace, people kept coming over to talk to her. They were going on and on about how they were so sorry that this had happened, how she was in a better place, how this was such a tragic loss, and how cruel the world was. At hearing this, all she could do was chuckle. They had no idea how cruel this world can be.

When finally it was time to go, she and her sister made their way to the one place she had called home for as long as she could remember. But as they pulled into the driveway, Dawn noticed that there was a small someone sitting on the front porch, reading a very big book that made it so she couldn't see very much of the person. It looked like it was some kid, but if that was the case, why was he wearing a suit. It seemed the child hadn't noticed them yet.

"Ugh," Dawn mentally complained. "Why can't we just be left alone?"

While she remained in the car, her sister got out and addressed the woman politely.

"I'm sorry. Can I help you?"

The book was lowered and Dawn was shocked to see that the child was actually an old lady. It took her a moment, but then she recognized the familiar face. It wasn't as if the 14 year old knew a bunch of people who were smaller then her sister.

"Forgive me, Elizabeth, for not coming to the funeral, but by the time my plane landed I had already missed half of the ceremony."

Buffy smiled as she hugged Hetty, "That's so of the okay. But please, no one calls me Elizabeth anymore. I go by Buffy now."

Anger engulfed Dawn. How could Buffy be smiling? Sure, they hadn't seen Hetty in like forever, but mom was dead! They had just been to their mom's funeral, and now her blond sister was smiling and chatting away as if nothing had happened. Buffy didn't care. All that mattered to her was slaying vampires and demons.

Casually, Dawn got out of the car and joined the others on the porch.

Hetty stared at her as if she couldn't believe her eyes. "Dawn? It's been so long, and you have grown so much!"

"Well, I was nine last time I saw you."

"So you do member Hetty?" Buffy inquired.

Dawn rolled her eyes. "Of course I remember her. She's my godmother."


	2. Chapter 2 – Getting to Know You

Chapter 2 – Getting to Know You Again

 _ **I do not own anything in this story. NCIS: Los Angeles belongs to Shane Brennan. Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon.**_

It had been so long since Buffy had last seen her godmother. She missed going to Hetty's huge mansion for Christmas, running up and down the halls with Dawn happily squealing behind her. They would go looking for secret passageways and lost treasure.

Then Buffy remembered that, no, Dawn hadn't been alive before they moved to Sunnydale.

About six months ago, some monks had been forced to hide a powerful thing called the Key from an ex-hellgoddess named Glory. The now ex-monks shaped the Key into human form, gave it life, and then stuck it into the Summers home as her sister.

They had even altered Buffy's memories! She remembered when her parents had brought Dawn home when she was born, the time her sister had mixed all of mom's eye shadows together to see what color it would make, and even when little Dawny had started recording her life in diaries as soon as she learned to write. But none of that ever happened. And it wasn't just Buffy's memories that had been changed. Anyone that had ever been in contact with the Summers family now had memories of Dawn being there.

But none of that mattered to Buffy. She didn't care how Dawn had come into her life. She had a sister, and Buffy would do anything to protect her.

Dawn and Hetty sat around the island in the kitchen, while Buffy finished brewing a cup of black cherry berry tea.

"It's the only kind that I know how to make," Buffy admitted.

Hetty accepted the steaming hot tea with a smile. "Oh, that's alright. It's the intention that matters."

"So, how's life back in LA? Still work in the government?" Buffy inquired.

"Yes, I still work for Uncle Sam. I can't tell you what I do, so please don't ask," Hetty explained.

Buffy internally chuckled. Last year, she had been given a rather high security level while working on a secret government project—not that Buffy was going to tell her godmother that.

"For the most part, life is running smoothly. But that doesn't matter right now. How are you two holding up?"

Panic hit Buffy like a speeding train coming head on. She couldn't do this, not now, not in front of Dawn.

A knock at the door saved her from having to answer.

"I'll go get that," Buffy said as she fled from the kitchen.

She opened the door to find… Angel.

"I got here as soon as I could," he apologized.

Buffy closed the door behind her as she stepped outside. "Thanks for coming."

The Godmother

Hetty watched as Elizabeth left. She couldn't blame her goddaughter for not wanting to talk about what had happened. The girl had just lost her mother. Hetty turned back to the youngest Summers girl, and found Dawn glaring at her mug of tea as if she was planning on throwing it at the wall.

"Any way I can help?" Hetty asked.

"Only if you can smack some sense into Buffy," Dawn grumbled. "She doesn't care about any of this. Mom's dead, and she doesn't care at all. All that matters... is her stupid responsibilities."

"Dawn, of course, she cares. Everyone deals with loss differently. I think Elizabeth's problem is that she can't accept what has happened. So instead of stopping and grieving, she's keeping herself busy," Hetty explained.

Dawn just continued to glare at her tea.

The Godmother

Buffy and Angel sat on the front porch. It felt like it had been forever since she had last seen Angel. For one precious moment, Buffy pretended that he hadn't left. She imagined him still being there when she went to college and dealt with the Initiative, Angel chasing away Riley so that she never would have had to deal with him leaving her. He would've been her rock, her support. Then it was gone, and she came back to reality.

They had been so close, but it wouldn't have worked out. Now he lived in L.A, keeping the normal wacky secret from the super wacky, and kicking the super wacky's butt.

"How's Dawn handling this?" he wondered.

"She's dealing… I think. I haven't really had much time to ask her," Buffy confessed.

Angel looked through the dining room window and into the kitchen.

"Who's that?" he inquired.

"Hmm? Oh, that's my godmother, Hetty," Buffy explained. "She lives in L.A."

"She's rather… short," Angel pointed out.

"Don't let that fool you." Buffy smiled. "She's downright dangerous."

Angel chuckled. "Don't worry. I've had enough experience with short, dangerous women to know not to underestimate them."

"I'm not that short," Buffy pouted.

"But you are dangerous."

The Godmother

"Who would that be with your sister?" Hetty asked.

Dawn blinked in surprise. Her godmother's back was to Buffy. How did she…?

Looking through the kitchen door, she rolled her eyes. "That's Angel. He used to be Buffy's boyfriend back when she was in high school, but then things got really complicated. Like really, REALLY complicated. In the end, he had to move to L.A. after Buffy graduated. Don't know why he's here though. Must have heard about… about mom."

"Isn't he a bit too old for Elizabeth?" Hetty inquired.

"You got no idea," Dawn chuckled. She wondered what her godmother would think if she learned that even though Angel looked like he was only about 25, the guy was really a 300 year-old vampire.

The Godmother

Buffy turned when the front door opened.

"Dawn's off to bed," explained Hetty. "Figured it was about time I leave."

"Um, ok. What hotel are you staying at?" Buffy wondered.

"Don't know yet," Hetty shrugged. "I came here as soon as I landed."

"Well then, you're staying here," decided Buffy.

"Oh, no. I wouldn't want to…" Hetty tried.

"Nonsense. You're family and you're staying with us," Buffy declared.

"Well, if you insist," Hetty chuckled.

"Why don't you head on in? I'll be right there."

Once Hetty was inside, Buffy turned to Angel.

"Could you…?" she started.

"Don't worry, I'll go on patrol for you. It's the least I can do," he reassured her before leaving, vanishing into the dark world beyond the safety of the house's porch.

The Godmother

Since Hetty didn't want to sleep in Mom's room, they had set up everything on the couch. Unfortunately, Buffy hadn't been able to find the guest sheets, so they had been forced to use Buffy's My Little Pony sheets from when she was a little kid.

"You sure you're okay with them?" Buffy checked for like the zillionth time.

"They're fine. I've had to make do with much less," Hetty reassured her.

Hetty suddenly turned serious.

"Elizabeth, when your mother died, the hospital called me. They informed me that if for some reason you were unable or unwilling to care for Dawn that the responsibility would fall to me."

Buffy blinked in surprise. She hadn't been expecting this. She couldn't lose Dawn, not with Glory after her.

"I just thought you'd want to know," Hetty explained.

Buffy nodded. What else could she do? Mom was gone, she didn't think she could lose her sister, as well.


	3. Chapter 3 – Internal Struggles

Chapter 3 – Internal Struggles

 _ **I do not own anything in this story. NCIS: Los Angeles belongs to Shane Brennan. Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon.**_

A certain blond lay in her bed, thinking about what Hetty had said. Lose Dawn? No way. She wouldn't let that happen. Buffy knew she could handle everything. It wasn't that she didn't want to lose her sister. It was that she couldn't. If Glory got her hands on… Nope, she couldn't think about it. She must stay with her, because Dawn was safer here.

"Or is she?" wondered a small voice in the back of her mind.

Wait, WHAT? Buffy couldn't believe she had thought that. Dawn would stay safe with her. She was the freaking slayer.

"But Glory knows you have the key. It's only a matter of time before she learns that the monks molded it into human form, and once that happens, Glory will come after everyone close to you, and that includes Dawn," the small voice pointed out.

Blocking out the voice to the best of her ability, Buffy tried to fall asleep. Keeping Dawn here was the best choice. Wasn't it?

The Godmother

Dawn came bounding down the stairs and around the corner to the dining room, only to come to a screeching halt. Slowly, she backed up and glanced into the living room. Sitting on the couch was her godmother!

"Hetty? What are you doing here?" Dawn noticed the sheets on the couch. "Did you spend the night?"

Looking up from her piles of paperwork, Hetty smiled at her goddaughter. "Since I hadn't been checked into a hotel yet, Elizabeth insisted that I stay here."

The excitement of the moment began to build up inside her until she couldn't hold it in any longer. "This is great!" Dawn exclaimed. "We'll spend so much time together! I can tell you all about what's happened since we've moved! And… and… we're going to have so much fun!"

"You can have fun AFTER school," said a voice from behind her.

Turning, the dark haired girl found her sister holding what she assumed was her lunch.

"Why?" Dawn didn't even try to hide her annoyance. "I'm fairly certain that my kind doesn't need to attend school."

Buffy took a deep, calming breath. "Upstairs. Now."

As the two of them climbed up the stairs, Dawn glanced at Hetty. She had expected to find confusion or disapproval in her godmother's eyes, but instead the old woman just sat there, thinking.

Dawn followed Buffy into her bedroom, with its bed covered in stuffed animals and bookshelves noticeably bare with the absence of her now burned diaries. Once the door closed behind them, Buffy turned on her.

"What on earth was that?" the blond Slayer demanded.

"The truth," Dawn answered flatly. "I'm only an evil green ball of energy; remember? School is for normal humans, so that means I don't need to go."

"You're wrong. You used to be that green thing, but you're human now. You are my sister, Dawn. And the key can be used for evil, but that doesn't make you evil," Buffy pointed out.

She rolled her eyes. "You can spout off whatever you want; I'm not going to school."

Buffy folded her arms over her chest. "You need to go back. It'll help you recover. We need to move on."

WHAT? How could she say that? 'Recover'? It wasn't as if she'd caught a cold! Mom was dead! Nothing would ever be normal again, and Dawn wasn't going to pretend that things were fine. She wasn't okay, and Buffy forcing her to return to school wasn't going to make everything better!

She was about to tell her sister as much when Buffy pushed the knife in deeper. "Do you think Mom would've wanted this?"

Dawn gasped. How dare she! Buffy had no right. Weakly, Dawn sat on her bed, and rested her head in her hands.

"I expect you downstairs and ready to leave in five minutes," Buffy pronounced as she turned to the door. "Please, can you not do this in front of Hetty? It'll only give her the wrong impression.

And with that, she left, leaving Dawn more angry and frustrated than she had been in a long time.

The Godmother

Buffy entered the Magic Box and made her way to the counter. She'd just dropped Dawn off at school, because she didn't trust her sister to not become distracted on the way.

The Magic Shop was where everyone could find anything that involved magic in Sunnydale. Across from the counter stood a round table with chairs which was stacked high with stacks of books. At the table sat Buffy's two Wiccan friends, Willow and Tara, who were trying to work but kept getting distracted by Xander, who was using a skull as a hand puppet. Back by the door was Xander's fiancée, Anya, who was helping a customer.

"Buffy, I wasn't expecting to see you," Giles commented from behind the counter. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes… No… I'm not sure. Giles, I don't know what to do."

And with that, she began to explain everything that had happened since returning home yesterday.

The Godmother

Before Buffy left, she'd informed her godmother that she would be back as soon as possible, but Hetty encouraged her to take her time. After all, she needed to make some classified calls anyway.

Now Hetty sat in front of her computer, having set up a secure line to use the government's version of skype to contact the OP center in L.A. On the screen stood her Tech Operator, Eric Beale, wearing a cadet blue T-shirt and plaid shorts. It still astounded her how even though NCIS had an extremely relaxed dress code, Mr. Beale still managed to break it.

"How is the case progressing, Mr. Beale?"

"Um… Not so good." Eric shifted nervously. Hetty was extremely protective of her senior agents. "Callen and Sam were transporting the senator's daughter, Lily, to the boat shed when they got ambushed. They had to blow up their car using dynamite to escape, and they've ditched their phones, but not before sending me a photo of one of the guys that they shot. I'm currently running it through facial-rec. But even if I found something, I wouldn't be able to reach them. They've gone completely dark."

"You're right. That's not good," Hetty sighed. "What of Mr. Deeks and Miss Jones?"

"They're doing their best to track Callen and Sam, so they can help them out."

A swell of pride engulfed Henrietta. Nell Jones had come so far in the last few years, starting out a young Information Analyst that didn't understand boundaries and not knowing how to work properly with a team. But Nell had grown. Now she was an important part of their team and with the potential of becoming an agent.

The Godmother

"What should I do?" Buffy wondered.

"Well, Glory knows you have the Key, so maybe the best choice is to send her away," Willow tried.

"But then I can't be there to protect her."

"But, if Dawn stays, you'll have to protect her a whole lot more, what with dear Glory being right here in Sunnyhell," Xander pointed out. "Face it, Buff. There isn't an easy answer to your question."

She turned to Giles, who'd remained silent while listening to the ongoing conversation.

"What do you think I should do?"

"I don't know," he admitted. "As Xander pointed out, there is no easy answer. In the end, you must make the final decision."

The Godmother

Having finished catching up with her L.A. team and having a very disappointing conversation on the land line with Dawn's school, Hetty now viewed the face of Owen Granger on her computer screen.

Similarly to her, Owen was also a veteran of the Cold War, although they hadn't always stayed allies during that time. In fact, one time Hetty had tried to kill Owen. But things were different, and they now shared the responsibility of directing the L.A. branch of NCIS.

Not long ago, Owen had left for Afghanistan, taking with him Kensi Blye. She had been chosen do to her excellence with a sniper rifle. Her mission was to kill the infamous White Ghost.

"How goes your hunt for the White Ghost, Owen?"

"Interesting, to say the least," he grumbled. "We haven't found anything of importance as of yet. But we did just arrive a couple of days ago. So who knows?"

"Hmm. And what of Miss Blye? How is she faring?" Hetty inquired.

Owen appeared rather annoyed as he glanced off to his right.

"Why don't you ask her yourself?"

He walked out of the view of the camera, and Hetty faintly heard a conversation going on off to the side. Then, standing on her monitor, was a tired Kensi. Hetty realized that the young woman had probably just turned in for the night.

"I'm sorry, dear. He didn't need to wake you," she apologized.

"No, it's all right," Miss Blye reassured her. "It's nice to see a familiar face."

"How are you, dear?"

Kensi glared at Owen before answering. "Oh, I'm just peachy. Turns out, the person that I replaced was decapitated!"

Oh, dear.

The Godmother

Frustrated and overwhelmed, Buffy clutched her head, trying to deal with the struggle going on inside of her.

"How?" she demanded. "How can I possibly choose? I mean, I don't want to give Dawn away, but I also don't want my emotions to result in her dying."

They all just stood there in silence. What else could they do?


	4. Chapter 4 – Discussions, Decisions, and

Chapter 4 – Discussions, Decisions, and Conclusions

 _ **I do not own anything in this story. NCIS: Los Angeles belongs to Shane Brennan. Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon.**_

Angel sat in the old abandoned mansion, reading a book while he waited for night to arrive. He looked up at the sound of footsteps to find Buffy standing before him. For a moment, they just stared at each other, neither sure of what to do.

"So… What are you reading?" she wondered.

Shrugging, he admitted, "Nothing much. It was left on the table."

Buffy went back to standing awkwardly. Something was bothering her.

"What is it?"

"Huh?" she blinked, completely caught off guard.

"I mean," Angel explained, "what's wrong?"

Without a moment's hesitation, she began to explain everything, and boy, was it complicated.

The Godmother

"I really don't think this is a great idea, love," Spike pointed out. "If your sister finds out you're here…"

"But she won't," Dawn interrupted.

From what the bleach blond vampire had learned, the slayer had tried to send her sister back to school, but Dawn had ditched the land of learning and made her way over to his crypt in the cemetery. Once Buffy learned that Dawn was missing, she was going to go on a rampage, which wasn't going to end well for him.

"Buffy's too busy trying to distract herself from reality," the brunette grumbled as she flopped onto the only couch there, sending a cloud of dust into the air.

All of a sudden, Spike was all ears. "What do you mean by that Niblet?"

Dawn got a look on her face that made him mentally groan, and prepared himself for the babbling rant that was about to ensue.

The Godmother

"…and Giles said that in the end, I'm the one that has to make the final decision."

"Then why are you asking me for my opinion?" Angel wondered.

"Because I don't know what to do," Buffy gushed.

It was clear she was confused and torn inside, but her problem wasn't that.

He looked straight at her. "Are you sure?"

"What do you mean?" Buffy blinked.

"I think you know exactly what to do," Angel admitted as he stood up. "You just don't want to decide."

As he pulled her into a hug, she began to cry. "I can't. I can't lose her, too."

"You're not," he soothingly reassured her.

The Godmother

Once the little Niblet had finished her long annoying rant, Spike found himself in a whirlwind of emotions. So, the slayer was having a hard time coping with her mum's death. Well, that was understandable. Spike had liked Joyce. She'd never treated him like a monster, and whenever he'd visited she would make him a wonderful cup of tea. But she was gone now.

"Hello. Anyone home?" Dawn wondered, waving her hand in front of his face.

"Knock it off," Spike complained. "Can't you let a man think?"

Niblet went back to sitting on his couch, her arms crossed in annoyance.

"You shouldn't be so hard on your sister," he pointed out, as he lit a cigarette. "I mean, she just lost her mum. That's not easy for a person."

"You sound like Hetty. Well, news flash, I lost my mom too, but I'm not ignoring everything that's important to me! I'm not sending my only family away, so that I don't have to deal with them!"

Spike sensed another rant coming his way, and he didn't think he could deal with one more.

"Now, just hang on a moment. Both of you have lost your mum, but that doesn't mean that your grieving is more important than hers. It may feel like it, but the world don't revolve around you. And for your information, I highly doubt the slayer's trying to remove you from her life. As you keep going on about, you both lost your mum. You're the only family she has left. Do you really think she wants to lose you, too?"

The stubborn girl just turned away and refused to look at him.

"Wait, who's Hetty?"

The Godmother

Buffy locked the door behind her before making her way over to Hetty, who was ending a call on her computer. She got a brief glance of a brunette and some old guy who was losing his hair, before Hetty closed the tab.

"Did you have a hard time taking Dawn to school?" her godmother inquired.

"Wha…? Oh. No, I just went to see my friends for awhile."

She saw a look of confusion cross her godmother's face before it was replaced by a different one. Hetty stood up from the couch, and took Buffy's hands in her own. "What's wrong, dear? Is it about your mother?"

"No," Buffy hesitated. What was she supposed to do? It wasn't like she could just tell her what was really going on.

"Hetty… I'm thinking about… I mean, what would you think if…?"

Her godmother was now looking very concerned. Buffy decided to just say it.

"I'm thinking about you taking Dawn back to L.A."

The Godmother

She couldn't help herself. At hearing those words, Hetty was filled with sorrow. She hadn't thought that Elizabeth would actually give up her own sister, especially after the loss of her mother.

"What? Why?"

Elizabeth seemed to have discovered something interesting about the floor.

"It's complicated," she mumbled.

Hetty sat on the couch and patted the spot next to her. After a moment, her goddaughter joined her.

"Now, why don't you start from the beginning," Hetty encouraged.

"But…" Elizabeth stammered. "I can't! I mean, I'm not allowed to."

"Well then, just give me the gist of it? There's no need to go into details."

Still clearly nervous, Elizabeth began to explain what was going on, even if it didn't make a great deal of sense. She told her that there was this person that she had really ticked off, because Elizabeth had something of hers, and somehow that meant she had to keep Dawn safe. Elizabeth thought the best way to deal with this was to send her sister back to L.A. So even though she really didn't want to, Elizabeth was going to stay here and deal with this person while Dawn was with Hetty?

It was clear that she wasn't getting the full story, but Hetty decided not to push the young woman.

"Are you sure this is the best decision?" she inquired.

Elizabeth looked like she was on the verge of tears. "I think so."

Hetty placed a reassuring hand on her goddaughter's shoulder.

"Have you talked to Dawn about this?"

Faster than the blink of an eye, Elizabeth was off the couch and pacing in front of her.

"No," she admitted. "What should I say? Hey Dawnie, I know you're going through a really hard time, but I think it's best that I send you off with our godmother so you don't get killed?"

"Well, what do you think will happen if you don't talk to her about it first?"

Once again, Elizabeth studied the floor.

"She'll probably hate me."

"There's only one way to find out," Hetty pointed out.

Elizabeth took a deep calming breath and glanced at the clock. "Okay, I have about five hours before Dawn leaves school."

With a jolt Hetty remembered the phone call from earlier. After she informed Elizabeth about the situation, the young blond made her way to the kitchen and called someone named Spike. Without a 'hi' or 'how are you', she immediately got down to the point.

"Is Dawn with you?" she demanded.

Hetty didn't know who this Spike was, but clearly the young woman didn't hold that high of an opinion of him.

"Cut the crap, Spike. Is she there or not?"

After a moment of silence, her goddaughter exploded into the phone.

"Because for some strange reason, Dawn likes hanging out with you, even if she knows that she shouldn't. Now, give me a straight answer, or I'll kill you, whether or not she's there!"

Hetty was surprised at how easily Elizabeth threatened this Spike. What disturbed her even more was the fact that she could tell from her goddaughter's face that Elizabeth meant every word.

"I'm on my way. And I'm not your love, so stop calling me that!"

She slammed the phone back on the receiver and made her way to the door.

The Godmother

Not long after her phone call with Spike, Buffy found herself driving back to Dawn's high school.

"What were you thinking, ditching school like that?"

"You did the same thing all the time when you were my age!" Dawn countered.

"Yeah, but I did it to save the world! Not because I didn't want to stay!"

Her sister rolled her eyes. "Whatever. You're not the boss of me. You can't tell me what to do."

"That's the stupidest argument ever!" she complained. "I'm the adult of this house now, so yeah, that makes me the boss of you! Deal with it."

For the next few miles, Buffy kept on driving while Dawn tried to burn a hole through her sister's head with her stare. After awhile she pulled into the nearest parking lot and parked the car.

"What are you doing?" Dawn wondered.

"There's something you need to know," Buffy started, "Apparently, Hetty is listed under next of kin for you, so when mom died, the hospital called her. They told her that if for some reason I was unable or unwilling to care for you that the responsibility of guardianship would fall to her."

Dawn just stared at her. Not sure whether or not this was the best idea, Buffy decided that she should have that talk with her sister that Hetty had recommended. After all, it wasn't like she had much experience on this stuff.

"I'm thinking about sending you back to L.A," Buffy blurted.

The look of surprise and betrayal on Dawns face made her want to take it all back.

"You don't want me."

"No, that's not what I said. Of course, I want you to stay with me, but I need to think about what's best for you, and with Glory..."

But she wasn't listening. "I knew it! Spike told me I was wrong, but... You really don't love me. You don't care at all… I'm not really your sister after all."

"No! Stop twisting my words!" Buffy complained.

"Maybe it's better that you send me away. I don't have anybody here. Hetty's the only one that actually cares about me," Dawn decided, turning her back on her sister.

"What? That's so not true. You have me."

She whirled around. "No, I don't. It's so obvious you don't want me around. At the first opportunity you've got, you've decided to send me away! "

"That's not true!" Buffy shouted.

"Yes, it is." Dawn said matter of factly. "And I'm not the only thing that doesn't matter to you!"

Caught off guard, Buffy blinked in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Mom is dead, and it's like you don't even care. You haven't even cried."

Anger welled up inside of her. How could she say that?

"Of course, I care. How can you even think that?"

"How can I not?" Dawn seethed. "You've just been running around… like it's been some huge chore or something. Cleaning up after Mom's great big mess."

Buffy felt the urge to slap Dawn, but she didn't. Just because she was ticked off at her sister didn't mean she had the right to hurt her. Buffy took another deep breath before she continued.

"Dawn… I've been working. I've been busy, because I have to…"

"No! You've been avoiding me."

She felt herself beginning to cry, but Buffy didn't care anymore.

"I'm not! I have to do these things because… because when I stop, then she's really gone. And I'm trying… Dawn… I really am trying to take care of things… but I don't even know what I'm doing. Mom always knew."

"Nobody's asking you to be Mom."

"Well, who's going to if I'm not? Have you even thought about that?"

Dawn tried again. "Buffy…"

"I didn't mean to push you away. I really didn't. I just…"

Buffy hugged her sister, who was also crying now.

"I don't want to lose you." Dawn sobbed.

After awhile, they pulled apart, and Buffy drove Dawn back to school.


	5. Chapter 5 – Farewell

Chapter 5 – Farewell

 _ **I do not own anything in this story. NCIS: Los Angeles belongs to Shane Brennan. Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon.**_

Dawn came home after school and found Buffy and Hetty playing Scrabble. She had tried not to think about whether or not she wanted to leave Sunnydale while she had been at school, but it was all she could think about. Although her mind wasn't completely made up, she was fairly certain what was going to happen.

"Hey Dawnie, have fun at school?" Buffy asked, as if she hadn't skipped out earlier that day.

"If only," Dawn groaned. "While most of the classes were as boring as always, Algebra was the worst. Miss Grant wouldn't stop droning on and on. I almost fell asleep!"

"Well, we wouldn't want that," Hetty smiled, "but that doesn't matter anymore. Care to join us?"

"Sorry, but I have to start making dinner. Why don't you play for me?" offered Buffy.

While her sister started to cook in the kitchen, Dawn looked over her options. It was obvious who had played what words. Hetty's were long and complicated, while Buffy's were… not.

"Hey, Buffy! You stink at this game," Dawn taunted.

"It was either Scrabble or Battleship," her sister shouted from the other room. "I'm not that stupid."

"Ha! So you admit it," she counted, as she put down the word maxes, earning herself 33 points.

Buffy came into the room only long enough to stick her tongue out at Dawn before going back to the kitchen. Hetty just smiled.

Half an hour later, they were setting the table for the meal—well, if you could call it that. The slayer might be good with an axe, but a stove was something else entirely.

"Sorry if it's a little crispy," Buffy apologized as she served the mac and cheese.

"One doesn't have to know their way around a kitchen," Hetty pointed out. "You did your best, and that's what matters."

While the texture was not her favorite, they all ate until they were full. It wasn't until they were all done when Buffy spoke.

"So, what are we going to do?"

Dawn turned to Hetty.

"While I clearly don't know everything that's going on, I think it would be best if you two stayed together. However, if necessary, I would be willing to take Dawn back with me to L.A."

"I've gone through every possibility I can think of." Buffy sighed. "There is a slight possibility that we'll come out on top if you stay, but I think it's best if you're not here in the lion's den."

"Aren't we just delaying the inevitable?" Dawn pointed out.

Her sister shrugged. "Maybe, but a little extra time never hurt anyone."

"What do you think?" Hetty asked her.

"I don't want to go, but I think it's the best choice we have," Dawn admitted.

The Godmother

The next day was spent filling out paperwork, packing, and sharing many tearful goodbyes. No one knew what was going to happen next, or even if this was the right choice, but they all were going to do their best to keep Dawn safe. And speaking about the youngest Summers girl, as she waved farewell to all her friends, humans and vampires alike, she hoped that one day she would be able to come home.

The Godmother

Glory reclined on her huge bed with its silk sheets. She was a goddess, so that meant she had to have only the best there was to offer. She turned her thoughts to her Key. Where was it? How long did that stupid slayer think she could hide it from her? Did she really think she could win? No, that wasn't going to happen. You want to know why? Because, she was Glorificus, a hell goddess, and she always got what she wanted. Always.


	6. Chapter 6 – A New Beginning

Chapter 6 – A New Beginning

 _ **NCIS: Los Angeles belongs to Shane Brennan. Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon. I own any one new to this story, and the school.**_

Dawn woke in a strange room. Then she remembered coming to L.A. with Hetty three days ago. This was her new room.

It was rather large with floor-to-ceiling windows taking up much of the wall to her left with double glass doors in the middle that led to her own personal balcony that overlooked the large pool in the backyard. To her right was a wooden door and a victorian vanity, with a large mirror and more storage space then she knew what to do with. Directly in front of her was an antic rug, a black swivel chair, and a large mahogany desk with a lamp and a computer. There were floor-to-ceiling wooden shelves on either side of the desk, and also a smaller version of shelving to her left. There was also a dark brown sofa sack that Dawn had fallen in love with right away. Her queen sized bed was covered in creamy white sheets and from its four posters hung light blue drapes that were slightly transparent. The walls were a deep blue and the floor was covered in white carpet.

On the far sides of the wall in front of her were two wooden doors. The one on the right led to her huge walk-in closet. It was larger than the bathroom back home, and it even have a large black round chair in the middle that could comfortably seat six people! The other one led to her bathroom. Although not as big as her closet, it still had plenty of space. There was a porcelain sink, bathtub, toilet, a blue tiled shower, a wicker laundry basket, a row of benches, and a circular white and blue rug in the middle of the tiled floor.

Even with all of this, Dawn still would have given anything to go back home. She only knew Hetty, and she hadn't been about to leave the grounds yet. But that was all was going to change today with the start of school. Dawn wasn't sure if she should be excited or not. She remembered starting over in Sunnydale, but in reality, that had never happened to her. She had never done anything like this.

"Well, there's no point in just sitting around," Dawn sighed.

Quickly, she got ready and made her way down two stories to the kitchen, where she made herself toast and a bowl of cereal. As Dawn ate, she read the note left for her by Hetty.

 _Dear Dawn,_

 _I hope you enjoy your first day of school. Phillip will drop you off. You will find a paper bag next to your backpack with your lunch in it. If you want to talk at lunch, please, don't hesitate to call me. I'll do my best to stay free just in case you do._

 _Wishing you the best of luck,_

 _Hetty_

Dawn smiled. She knew her godmother was doing the best that she could. Hetty was usually already gone when she awoke, but she always made sure to be home before the sun set, and she had been informed that Hetty didn't have to go into work on the weekends, unless it was a big emergency.

As Phil, Hetty's butler, drove her to school, Dawn found herself having to calm down by taking deep breaths. There was absolutely nothing to worry about. And if for some strange reason something did go really wrong, Dawn had a government agent for a godmother and the slayer for a sister. Besides, this was L.A. She had left all the wacky stuff back home in Sunnydale. What could be out of the ordinary in L.A.? Well, other than Angel. Yup, she would totally be fine. Nothing could possibly go wrong today.

The Godmother

Hetty sat at her desk going through even more paperwork. She loved working here. It was just so breathtakingly beautiful. The building had once been a Franciscan mission.

She looked to her right at the sound of pounding feet to find Eric and Nell running down the stairs and over to her desk.

"Hetty, we have a big problem," Nell said nervously.

"What is it?"

"Remember how we lost track of Agent Harper?" Eric explained. "Well, we found her."

Hetty was confused. "How is that a problem?"

"Well…You see…" Nell tried.

"We kind of only found _part_ of her," Eric finished.

The Godmother

Dawn took in the sight of her new school. It was bigger than the one back home, but that was to be expected. Sunnydale wasn't that big. It was minuscule compared to L.A. Still, it was just another high school. Sure it was a different building with different people, but it couldn't be that different from her old one… right?

Phil smiled from the front of the car. "Good luck."

She returned the courtesy with a smile of her own, before opening her door and losing herself in the multitude of students entering the school. Dawn was surprised to see that you had to go through a metal detector before going in. Not only that, but there was a police officer checking IDs. With a shrug, she got in line.

When her turn came, Dawn nervously addressed the officer.

"Um, I'm new. I'm not exactly sure what I'm supposed to do."

Smiling mischievously, the man offered his hand.

"Nice to meet you Miss New. I'm the School Resource Officer, Clifford Hanson, but you can call me Cliff."

Laughing, she shook his hand.

"Actually, I'm Dawn, Dawn Summers."

"Still nice to meet you," Cliff gestured to his right. "If you'll wait till everyone's gone through, I'll take you to Principal Nelson's office."

So, Dawn went through the metal detector before taking her place next to Cliff. After what felt like forever, it was finally time to go. Filled with determination, Dawn briskly walked down the halls of Fray Ramirez High School. She just hoped that the rest of the staff was like Cliff.


	7. Chapter 7 – Deeks Loses His Appetite

Chapter 7 – Deeks Loses His Appetite

 _ **NCIS: Los Angeles belongs to Shane Brennan. Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon.**_

Hetty stood in the OP center facing the floor-to-ceiling screen that was currently blank. While she waited for her team to arrive, she once again marveled at the simple design of their OP center.

It wasn't that big, with a black-tiled floor and four walls made of black wooden blinds that would close if they were in lockdown mode. Upon entering the room through the sliding doors you would see two computer monitors on either side of you. The same thing was mirrored on the other side of the room, but instead of a door there was a three-by-four foot touch screen. On the left of the doors was a much larger transparent screen that had a display of photos and news feeds. Across from that was the screen that Hetty was looking at. It was their primary screen for briefings. In the middle of the room was a table with a computer screen built into its surface.

At that moment, Hetty's thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of Misters Callan, Hanna, and Deeks. The three men were nothing alike.

Mr. Callan had short brown hair and bright blue eyes. The man was originally from Romania, but due to extremely complicated circumstances, he found himself in America at a young age, bouncing from foster home to foster home. After working with the CIA for a period of time, Mr. Callan began to work with Mr. Hanna at the LA branch of NCIS. Much of his life was still a mystery with the biggest enigma being what his first name was. They knew it started with a G, but that was it.

Mr. Hanna was a tall man of color with no hair. With his prior experience as a Navy SEAL, he was an expert at many types of martial arts and different kinds of weaponry. Combined with his undercover training, Mr. Hanna was a force to be reckoned with. While Mr. Callan had the nasty habit of being a lone wolf, his partner was a team player who could work with almost anyone.

That last fact was severely tested when Mr. Deeks had joined the team as an NCIS/LAPD liaison officer. He replaced Miss Blye's old partner, Dominic Vail, after he was killed, so it took some time for the team to accept him. It didn't help matters that Mr. Deeks had long sandy hair that was "styled by pillow" and no past experience working with a government agency. He had been an experienced attorney at law while working as a Public Defender in the Los Angeles Criminal Courts and done undercover work with the LAPD, but that was all. He had come a long way since then.

Despite all that, the three of them now worked together rather well, although Miss Blye's departure wasn't making things any better.

"Please, tell me that this isn't too big," Mr. Hanna pleaded. "G and I have an appointment at Lily Lockhart's place. She wanted to thank us for saving her by making us a home cooked meal."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Hanna, but you'll have to reschedule your plans," Hetty apologized. "This takes precedence. Mr. Beale?"

He and Miss Jones brought up a series of photos on the big screen. They were not pleasant.

Mr. Deeks winced. "And I've lost my appetite."

"Less than a week ago we lost track of one of our agents, Miss Abigale Harper," Mr. Beale explained. "Until yesterday."

Miss Jones took over. "They found this under the Fortmen Bridge. As you can see, there wasn't much left."

"What did this?" Mr. Callan wondered.

"Not sure," Miss Jones admitted. "It looks like some kind of animal, but we can't determine what kind."

"Whatever it is, it's big," pointed out Mr. Hanna. "Are there any other cases like this in the area?"

"Yeah," Mr. Beale brought up some more images. All the people in them were brutally mauled by some sort of creature. The victims varied in ages, but one thing was similar about all of them.

Mr. Callan said what everyone was thinking. "They're all women."

"Yes," Hetty confirmed, "as far as we can tell, this thing only attacks females, and only in a specific area."

A map appeared on the screen with dots representing where the bodies had been found. They were all in a fifteen mile area.

Mr. Deeks spoke up. "I understand that you lost an agent, but all the others were random killings. This doesn't exactly scream federal investigation."

"Maybe not, but it is still our responsibility to help in any way we can," Hetty explained.

"I still don't understand something. If this thing is so big and dangerous, then why hasn't anyone seen it?" Mr. Callan pointed out.

"We're not sure," Miss Jones admitted, "We're still looking through things, but we haven't yet found anything of interest yet."

"Ok, Sam and I will check out the scene at the bridge. Deeks, go through the files on the other victims. See if you can find anything else of importance."

"You got it. I just hope I can still eat dinner by the end of the day," Mr. Deeks complained before leaving. Mr. Callan and Hanna followed.

Hetty wasn't just concerned about catching some killing monster, but also because her goddaughter. Dawn's school was in that fifteen mile area, and she didn't want to explain to Buffy that her sister had been killed by some murdering creature.

That reminded her.

"Miss Jones, a moment of your time."

The redhead followed Hetty out of the OP center, downstairs and into the incinerating room, where they destroyed certain documents. Miss Jones locked the door behind them before asking, "What is it?"

"I need you to look into something."

"Sure." Miss Jones shrugged her shoulders.

"Find out everything you can about a small town call Sunnydale. Also, I want to look into the past of an Elizabeth Summers. She might also go by Buffy."

"Got it." She was about to leave when she turned back. "I'm guessing that you want this to remain between us."

"Yes. Get back to me as soon as possible."

The Godmother

 _ **The day after Dawn left**_

Back in Sunnydale, in the kitchen at the Summer's home, Buffy had confessed to Giles that part of her didn't like what the slayer power was doing to her. She was afraid that it was making her cold to people. He suggested a retreat to a sacred place in the desert that would help her regain her focus and learn more about her role in keeping the balance of the darkness in the world.

"But I can't go," Buffy complained as she continued to handwash the dishes. "What if Glory tries something? I need to be here, helping."

Giles gently took her by the shoulders and made her look at him.

"Buffy, the best thing you can do is to prepare. Prepare yourself for the battle ahead. And the best way to do that is to learn how to make yourself stronger."

She sighed. "Fine, but if I come back and you're all dead, then I won't get to tell you 'I told you so'."

Shaking his head with laughter, Giles left to go get the necessary supplies for the short trip.


	8. Chapter 8 – Catching Up

Chapter 8 – Catching Up

 _ **NCIS: Los Angeles belongs to Shane Brennan. Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon. I own any one new to this story.**_

After Giles had dropped her off in the desert, Buffy had an interesting conversation with the first slayer. Now it was the next morning, and she was walking back to town, pondering what she could have meant.

"Death is my gift?"

The Godmother

"How was your first day of school?"

They currently sat in the kitchen, enjoying a meal of grilled cheese sandwiches, potato chips, and soda. Well, Dawn had a root beer; Hetty was drinking tea.

Dawn told her everything — how much she liked Cliff, Principal Nelson, and a couple of her teachers.

"But Mr. Kian was just so… so… Argh! No matter what I did, he always seemed to think I was a trouble maker! I mean, like when I was trying to write down notes for the upcoming history test, Sara McClain throws this wad of paper on my desk, and Mr. Kian turns around just in time to see me pick it up. And he's all like, 'Miss Summers! Are you passing notes?' Next thing I know, he's unfolding it and reading it before the whole class! And what's worst is that McClain made it sound like I have this huge crush on some popular football player at school!"

"Well, it sounds like you also don't like this McClain girl," Hetty noted.

"She's 'Miss Popular'," Dawn explained through a mouthful of grilled cheese. "and just because her dad makes a lot of money and she's pretty. Her click follows her around all the time, and whatever McClain says goes."

Hetty moved the conversation along. "I do believe there are more people in this school other than Miss McClain and her 'click'."

"Okay, yeah, I did make some friends. There's Esther Wilson, Arthur Gaff, and Ben Mathers."

"And how did you meet them?" she inquired.

"They're my lab partners in chemistry. Oh, which reminds me. Mr. Aima, my chemistry teacher, is amazing. He actually makes science fun."

"Well, that's good," Hetty smiled.

"So, how was your day?"

Dawn was fully aware that her godmother couldn't tell her what she did, but that didn't mean her godmother couldn't give her a vague summary. Hetty took a moment to figure out how she was going to compartmentalize her day in such a way that she was still communicating.

"We've been looking into a possible situation for awhile now, but it wasn't until today that we found any answers. Unfortunately, it only led to more questions."

"Oh. I'm sorry," she shrugged. Dawn got the feeling that whatever was going on, was really bothering her.

Hetty just smiled. "On the other hand, I caught up on almost all of my paperwork."

They spent the rest of the afternoon chatting away.

The Godmother

Nell sat in the OP center, typing away at her computer. Practically everyone had left already, so she was taking this time to look into that thing Hetty had requested of her, but things were not adding up.

For just a small town in California, Sunnydale had an unusually large death rate. Gang members on PCP seemed to be everywhere. Plus, some of the incidences that she was reading about were beyond insane. About two years ago, at the Sunnydale High School's graduation ceremony, yet another gang on PCP attacked, maiming and killing a whole bunch of people. And if that wasn't crazy enough, in the midst of all that, the building was blown up?!

Confused but curious, Nell turned her attention to Elizabeth Summers, aka Buffy.

At first, there didn't seem to be anything out of place. She had burned down the gym at her old school here in LA, but after that things seemed to turn around. Fairly good student and no run-ins with the law.

Then she looked into the girl's parents. Well, that was interesting, and it explained how Hetty knew the family.

Unsatisfied with what she'd found, Nell dug deeper and deeper into the girl's past. Something just wasn't right.

 _ **I'm sorry how long it's been since I last posted. I'm even sorrier to say that I will not be posting again for at least two more weeks. Life is just far too crazy to post, let alone write, new chapters.**_


	9. Chapter 9 – Glimmers of Truth

Chapter 9 – Glimmers of Truth

 _ **NCIS: Los Angeles belongs to Shane Brennan. Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon. I own all of the new places and names mentioned at the end of this story.**_

The sun had just fully appeared on the horizon as Hetty made her way over to her office. No one else had arrived yet, so the director of NCIS operations in LA was able to lean back in her chair and enjoy the beautiful silence that engulfed the building.

"Hetty!"

Surprised but composed, she turned to find a certain redhead running down the stairs with a laptop under her arm.

"Miss Jones? What are you doing here?" she wondered before noticing the bags under the girl's eyes and her disheveled hair. "Or should I be asking how long have you been here?"

"I've been here all night," Nell explained with a wave of her hand, as if what she was saying was completely normal. Before Hetty could get a word out, she barreled on, opening up her laptop as she spoke. "Remember how you asked me to look into Sunnydale? Well I did, and I found some really weird stuff."

As Nell showed her everything she'd dug up, Hetty found herself growing more and more concerned. What had Elizabeth gotten herself into?

"And what of my goddaughter?" she asked, silently bracing herself for the worst.

"A good student with a bright future," Nell shrugged.

Hetty leaned forward in her chair. "Are you sure?"

"I spent hours looking into her, and the only things I found of interest happened before she moved," she sighed. "Speaking of the past, I looked into her parents. Does he know what's…?"

"Yes, I informed him of the situation while I was on the plane to Sunnydale."

"And, what was his response?" Nell wondered.

Hetty felt a stab of pain as she thought back to the phone call.

"Go home."

She blinked in surprise. "Wha…?"

"You're in no condition to work. Go home, and get some rest. I don't want to see you again until at least after lunch."

As Nell left, Hetty thought over what she had learned. What was going on in that small town?

The Godmother

 _ **Three days after Dawn left**_

Glory stood in the midst of a bustling crowd of people, marveling at what she saw. It wasn't the bright colors or strange things that decorated the booths at The Cultures of the World Fair that made her smile. No, it was the crowds of oblivious people, completely unaware of the great being that walked in their midst. That was one of the better things about this wretched world—the people. Just walking around, enjoying their meaningless lives. Lying to themselves, that everything was right with the world and nothing could be lurking around the corner waiting to tear them to pieces. Besides, even if they did know, what would they do? She was a god after all.

A small girl with frizzy blond hair waved at her as Glory made her way through the throng of people.

"… If only she knew." She smiled to herself. Why, just yesterday she had been torturing that vampire for the name of the key. That had been so much fun. Unfortunately, he escaped her with the help of the slayer, but that didn't matter.

Finally, she found what she was looking for. Three booths over stood Buffy, Willow, and Tara examining a table covered in stone statues. A smile spread across Glory's lips as Tara separated from the group to fetch something. Just the opening she was looking for. Unseen by her target, she followed the young woman who, according to her minions, was her lost key.

The Godmother

Dawn chuckled as she made her way to the kitchen. If someone had told her a week ago that she would be happy to go to school, she would have laughed in their face. She suddenly came to a stuttering halt. Down the hall, she watched as Phil closed the doors to Hetty's office. It wasn't what the butler was doing that had caught her attention, but what she had seen on the walls—stakes, crosses, and even some ancient swords and daggers on display.

After Phil left, Dawn tiptoed over to the large double doors. She reached out to turn the knob, but stopped herself. When she had arrived, Hetty had made it very clear that she was not allowed into this room unless she was invited in. She didn't want to get on her godmother's bad side in less than a week of being here. But then again, she just wanted to look at what was on the wall, and she didn't have to go into the room to do that. Dawn tried the door handle. Locked. Silently, she debated what to do next. Eventually she decided try this again after school.

As she continued her walk to the kitchen, Dawn continued to think. Spike had taught her how to pick a lock, so maybe… No, that would scratch the lock. Hetty would know just by looking. Maybe Dawn should look for where Phil put the key? But he was a professional. There was no way she was going to get it from him. She groaned as she realized that this was going to be bothering her all day.

The Godmother

Buffy and Willow had rushed an injured Tara to the hospital as soon as possible. They were currently watching a nurse wrap up Tara's broken arm.

"This can't be happening," Willow said, still struggling to cope.

Tara had volunteered to go fetch something to eat, but when they went to join her, she had been nowhere in sight. After half an hour of searching, Willow had decided to use a guidance spell that led her and Buffy to Tara, but it was too late. Glory had left her behind a small booth. It had been immediately apparent what the hell goddess had done.

Now Willow stood there with the rest of her friends, unable to do anything that would heal the babbling woman that sat in front of her.

"Books are loud. They go boom! The mice like to run under the chairs, so they can eat all the eyeballs. Black isn't shiny, like all the knives are. Whirling and twirling, around and around. So shiny. But not like the shiny key. Key is more shiny."

But then Willow realized there was something she could be doing.

"I need to use the restroom," Willow murmured before slipping out of the room, knowing she couldn't risk Buffy or any of the others finding out her plan.

Filled with rage, Willow made her way down the halls of the hospital. She needed to get to The Magic Shop.

The Godmother

Eric, Callan, Sam, and Deeks all stood downstairs, trying to find some answers to the task set before them.

Frustrated, Callan glared at the TV screen. "Okay, let's start at the beginning. What do we know so far?"

On the screen was a map, with red dots representing where each body had been found. Eric selected a dot, bringing up a series of photos and info.

"Anne Studer, 37. She was supposed to have a meeting with a potential buyer of an apartment but never made it. They found her body three weeks later in the sewers under the intersection of Rogers and Oak."

Another dot, more nasty photos.

"Courtney A. Ikard, 14 years old, went missing after she watched a movie with her friends, and was found in a dumpster on Langtown Road about a month ago."

And the names just kept on coming.

"Cristina H. Keene and Dolly Wilson, ages 21 and 24, were having an old fashioned, backyard sleepover. Dolly's parents claim they heard screaming, but by the time they got there, their tent was ripped open and the women were gone. Found on Short Street five days later."

"Rose T. Klem, 15 years old, was walking her dog four weeks ago, but Duke came home without his owner. The Great Dane had a deep slash in his rear flank. They found Rose in Augusta Park not long after."

"Stella Shankle, age 17, was on her way to a study party, but apparently didn't make it. Was discovered in the family's dumpster at 1407 Godfrey Drive."

"Marcy Wedel, 19 years old. She was an employee taking out the trash at the In-N-Out Burger on Maude. They later found her behind Fray Ramirez High School roughly nine days ago."

"Our agent, Abigale Harper, 33, vanished from her home about a week ago, but later was found under Fortmen Bridge."

"Annette H. Mason, 28, was walking back from work but never arrived. They found her in an alley off Hall Street.

Sam leaned against his desk as he thought. "Whatever this animal is, its handler is smart. It managed to grab all of these women without being seen, and left barely any evidence. Also, they're all grabbed and discarded in different locations. The only portion of the M.O. that is repeated is that they were all taken at night with the same cause of death."

Eric brought up the coroner's report.

"It bites down on their necks until they break, and then basically tear them apart."

"How can 'they all died the same way' be good news?" Deeks groaned.

"There's something else."

They all turned to see Nell. She hadn't been at work for almost the whole day, and when Callan had asked Hetty, all she'd said was that Nell needed the rest. Before any of them could respond, she took Eric's tablet and began to type away.

"When you bring up all the dates and times of when these women vanished, it brings up a pattern," she continued and proceeded to bring up a chart.

Callan read them allowed. "Miss Studer, 11/15. Courtney, 11/15. Cristina and Dolly, 11/16. Rose, 11/17. Stella,12/9. Marcy, 12/10. Agent Harper, 12/10. Mrs. Mason, 12/11."

"It killed for three days, stopped for about a month, than started to kill again, but again only for three days," Sam thought aloud.

Eric seemed to still be trying to process everything that had happened. "How…?"

"I looked through all the information you gathered over lunch," she explained.

Now it was Callan's turn to be surprised. "You went through crime-scene photos while you ate?"

Nell just shrugged.

"So this could mean that the Ripper won't kill again for a month," Deeks figured.

Callan was deep in thought. "Maybe, but why did it stop? And why only for three days."

"Well, I looked into various possibilities, and we realized that this thing only kills on the full moon."

Callan and Sam shared a look. This confirmed their suspicions.

"Serial killer."


	10. Chapter 10 – The Plot Thickens

Chapter 10 – The Plot Thickens

 _ **NCIS: Los Angeles belongs to Shane Brennan. Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon.**_

School had been a complete bust. Almost the whole day, Dawn had thought about how she was going to open those double doors but with no success. Now she lay on her bed, racking her brain for any possible way of seeing those weapons. Suddenly, Dawn bolted up right. How had she not thought of it before? She was looking at the problem all wrong. It wasn't how was she going to get the doors opened, it was how was she going to get Hetty to open them for her.

The Godmother

Eric and Nell sat in the OP center looking through footage in the death zone, as Eric insisted on calling it. They had been doing this for about an three hours, and Eric's brain was starting to go on auto pilot. In an attempt to avoid this, he paused the feed and rubbed his eyes. He had to stay focused, or he might miss something important.

"You okay?" wondered Nell, still working away as strong as ever.

Eric nodded. "Just a bit tired. Aren't you?"

"Hm?" she grunted, her full attention on her task.

"Tired, Nell? You've been working just as long as I have. Aren't you exhausted?"

"Nope. But if it makes you feel any better, I doubt Callan would have lasted this long."

A smile spread across Eric's face. "Deeks would probably be brain dead within seconds."

Now Nell was smiling. "None of them truly understands how hard this is."

"At the end of the day, we are the unsung heroes."

With brand new confidence, Eric went back at it. He couldn't remember what it had been like before Nell joined NCIS. How boring those days must have been. Now, she was his support. Eric didn't know what he would do without her.

The Godmother

"A serial killer?" Hetty wondered.

"It appears that way," Callan shrugged. "This pattern is far too predictable. We're looking for someone with a large dog that was in the area on the nights in question."

"All right, thank you for keeping me informed. We have a month to catch this guy. Let's hope we don't need that long."

And that's when the phone rang.

Dawn stretched out on her bed, looking up at the ceiling as the phone rang.

The Godmother

The teenage girl had carefully thought out ahead of time how she wanted to approach this conversation. She had also done her best to think of how things could go wrong and how to avoid and recover from those topics, and as always, she was going to try to stay as close as possible to the truth. Determined to get this right and confident that she had a good chance of succeeding, Dawn had called her godmother.

"Good afternoon."

"Hey, Hetty. Is this a good time? I wanted to talk about something I saw in the house."

"Just a second." On the other end, Hetty instructed someone to get back to her as soon as they had more information. "Now, what is it you wanted to discuss?"

Taking care to sound as innocent as possible, Dawn explained that while on her way to the kitchen she had seen Phil closing the doors to Hetty's office, and in the brief moment before they were closed, she had seen some really cool weapons on the walls. She hadn't opened the doors because she knew she wasn't allowed in, but she was wondering if Hetty would let her in when she got home later that day. That way she would be under Hetty's supervision the whole time.

"So, what do you think?" Dawn wondered, her fingers crossed.

It probably was only a second, but it felt like a lifetime before Hetty spoke. "Well, that all depends on how you answer my question."

Alarms went off in Dawn's mind. "And what question would that be?"

"Are you sure you didn't try to enter my office?" Hetty asked, her voice giving away no hints as to what she was thinking.

"Yes," she blurted, not even stopping to think about it for a moment.

"Are you completely certain?"

The alarms turned to sirens. Did Hetty know, and if she did, how? Dawn had been so careful not to approach the office before Phil had left. Was Hetty just psyching her out to make sure? No, she wouldn't… Cameras! She must have had a camera on her office. It totally made sense! But that meant that Hetty knew that Dawn had lied. Well, she would know if she really did have cameras.

"No," Dawn sighed, deciding that it was too dangerous to lie. "I did try the doors, but I wasn't going to go into the room! I was just going to look from a distance, I swear!"

If it had felt like a lifetime before Hetty spoke the first time, the silence that now filled Dawn's speaker seemed to last an eternity.

"Well, as long as you promise not to touch anything, I think you can see them."

Dawn let loose a breath that she hadn't realized she was holding. "Thank you, Hetty."

"Understand that I expect you to tell the truth from now on," her godmother explained. "Am I clear?"

"Crystal."

The Godmother

Kensi made her way over to the fridge, rapping the blanket tightly around her to keep out the cold. Stomach growling with hunger, she scoured the fridge for something to eat. Unfortunately for her, everything had names on it. With a shrug, she grabbed a tuna sandwich and an apple. If someone had a problem with her eating their food they could take it up with Granger.

The door opened with a gust of wind and the devil himself hurried in before closing the barrier between them and the outside world.

"Get ready, we're leaving in ten," Granger instructed as he shook the snow from his hat.

"But…" Kensi protested, her stomach still begging for sustenance.

"You can bring your food with you, as long as you're in the truck in ten!" he snapped.

She rushed to her bunk and threw on a couple more layers of clothing, grabbed her food, and was in the truck in less than seven minutes.

"Took you long enough," he grumbled before instructing the driver to head on out.

As Kensi wolfed down her food, they went deeper into the Afghanistan desert, on the hunt for the mysterious White Ghost.

The Godmother

After what felt like hours, Eric had to take another break. They had found plenty of suspects, but nothing had stuck so far.  
A groan next to him informed Eric that Nell was just as drained as he was. They desperately needed a distraction, so that when they went back at it they would be able to examine it with new eyes. But what should they talk about? Eric blurted the first thing that came to mind.

"What do you think Hetty's goddaughter is like?"

Caught off guard, Nell blinked at him owlishly.

"What?"

"We need something to distract us for a bit," Eric explained. "So, why not talk about Hetty's goddaughter?"

Fully understanding what he meant, Nell played along.

"Well, from what I know, I'd say Dawn Summers is smart, but incredibly stubborn."

For a second, Eric was completely taken aback. How did Nell know that much about a girl that had only been mentioned about four times? But then he remembered who he was taking about. If anyone knew any of Hetty's secrets, it was Nell.

"Well, I bet she didn't want to come all the way to LA. She must have left some friends and family back there.

"Actually, she used to live in a small town not that far away called Sunnydale."

Once again, Eric was taken aback. "Sunnydale?"

"What is it?" Nell inquired.

"I have a cousin that lived in Sunnydale for a while."

The Godmother

When Hetty arrived home, neither of them mentioned the office or Dawn's lie. Instead, they enjoyed each other's company while they enjoyed a pepperoni pizza. Hetty asked about Dawn's day at school and the teenager confessed that she hadn't been able to focus that much on her lessens.

"Especially in history, which really didn't help Mr. Kian's idea of me. He caught me staring out the window and when I asked him to repeat the question, he wouldn't, so I had to tell him I didn't know. Apparently, the question he asked was if I was paying attention, so..."

"Well, everyone has that one teacher that doesn't like them. You just have to learn how to stay off his bad side. Don't give him a reason to be cross with you."

"I'll try," Dawn promised.

With a smile of encouragement, Hetty instructed her to put away the leftovers while she took care of the dishes. Once the table was cleared, Dawn silently followed Hetty down the hallway. Upon arriving at the double doors, Dawn was instructed to turn around so she wouldn't know how to open the doors. There was the distinct sound of a key being inserted in a lock, wood rubbing against wood, and finally the soft click of door being unlocked. It took all of her will power not to whirl around, but Dawn managed to stay still until Hetty said otherwise. When she was allowed to turn, she made a bee line for all the ancient weapons.

If Giles had seen what was on display, he would have drooled. There was an entire display case devoted to stakes of all kinds: plain stakes, narrow stakes, and stakes with intricate carvings on them. There was even one that ended in a curved handle.

In the next display case over were crosses. Just like the stakes, there were some plain old crosses, but there were some very fancy ones made from all sorts of material: metal, stone, wood, and even beautiful stones.

Above these cases hung swords, daggers, and knives, all of which looked ancient. Dawn was proud that she even knew names of some of them. There were sabers, katanas, butterfly swords, jians, bowie knives, and kukris.

A soft chuckle drew Dawn's attention to the front of the room. Behind a beautiful oak desk sat Hetty. Now that she wasn't looking at the weapons, Dawn finally noticed the rest of the room.

On the opposite wall were shelves from floor to ceiling, full to the brim with ancient books that rested behind thick protective glass. Over the double doors were battle axes, bows and quivers full of arrows. Just like the weapons that Dawn had been admiring earlier, these too were clean and sharp. Behind Hetty hung what Dawn thought were some ancient tapestries.

"I would ask you what you think, but I am fairly certain I know the answer," her godmother pointed out.

"Hetty, were did you get all of these?"

"Oh, here and there. Mostly while I traveled."

Dawn reached out to touch one of the knives, but stopped herself. Looking over, she gave Hetty a silent apology. The old woman left her chair and opened the display case full of stakes. Gingerly, she pulled out one that was covered in Greek. The writing started at the hilt and spiraled down to the tip.

"This is my favorite," Hetty smiled. "It fascinates me just how much work was put into carving all those words into the wood."

Dawn was taken aback when her godmother offered the stake to her.

"But you said I couldn't touch anything," she protested.

"Because I didn't want you to pick up a weapon and hurt yourself. It's a lot harder to injure oneself with a stake."

After a moment of hesitation, Dawn excepted that piece of wood, and began examining it with greater detail. With a startling jolt, she began to understand the writing.

Πάρε με. Υπερασπίστε τους ανθρώπους σας. Με μένα σκοτώσω τους νεκρούς χωρίς ανάσα.

( _Take me up. Defend your people. With me slay the breathless dead._ )

"I didn't know you knew ancient Greek?"

Dawn realized she had read the writing aloud. Frantically she thought of an excuse.

"Um… Giles taught me. You remember him, right? He was at the airport."

Hetty still looked taken aback. "Yes, I remember him. But I thought he had been the librarian at Elizabeth's high school?"

"Yeah! Before that he had worked at some old museum in England," Dawn explain before realizing that she really needed to change topics. As she gently returned the stake to it is home, Dawn brought up the first thing that came to mind. "So… Hetty. How did you know that I had tried to open the doors?"

It was clear that Hetty knew what she was doing, but she went along anyway.

"There are cameras. Plus, there are also sensors that inform me whenever someone attempts to or opens my office doors," Hetty explained.

Dawn was suddenly relieved that she hadn't tried to pick the locks. That would have led to even more questions.

"Well, thanks for letting me see all this," Dawn said as she studied the old rug on the floor.

"You're welcome, and since you seem to know Greek, I might let you in here again to read some of those books. That is, if you're interested."

Dawn felt like she was the luckiest girl alive. "That would be awesome!"

"But only when you are supervised, and if you promise to use the utmost care. They are very fragile."

"Of course, totally of the careful."

Hetty smiled. "Good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some work to get done."

"Okay, see ya."

As Dawn left, she thought back to her experience with the stake. She hadn't known that she could speak Greek, let alone understand it. She ran up to her room and looked up some Greek words on her computer. She didn't know how but she could read all of it, in her head and out loud. It was so strange.

In her desperate desire to know what was going on, Dawn called the Summers home phone. There was no answer.

The Godmother

Back in Hetty's office, she too was online, but for a completely different reason. She was looking up all she could on this Rupert Giles. According to her computer, Mr. Giles was an ordinary man, but when she made some calls to her contacts in England, she made some interesting discoveries, which made no sense. Before his arrival in America, he had lived a rather interesting life. Having been raised with wealth, he had lived through some rather dark teenage years only to mature into a devoted young man that worked at The British Museum. The man had even been knighted by the queen of England! Then he moved to Sunnydale to be the librarian for a bunch of high schoolers? Something wasn't adding up, and Hetty was determined to learn what was happening.

 _ **Quick shout out to IBJoyful for editing most of this chapter. Again, please check out her stories. They are totally awesome. Also, a couple of months ago, fanreaderonetwo commented that maybe Hetty could have a favorite stake. I absolutely loved the idea, and it worked so well with the story. Thank you for the amazing idea, fanreaderonetwo.**_


	11. Chapter 11 – Werewolves and Blades

Chapter 11 – Werewolves and Blades

 _ **NCIS: Los Angeles belongs to Shane Brennan. Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon.**_

 _ **Four days after Dawn left**_

The gang had decided to have an emergency meeting in Xander's apartment to discuss everything that had happened. Although he was a vampire, even Spike was there to weigh in his opinion. They all had agreed that after what he'd gone through with Glorificuse, he had earned that much.

Buffy stared out the living room window, while the others chatted away. Apparently, Anya thought their best option was to drop a piano on Glory's head.

Buffy wasn't sure what they could do. Every time they faced her they got beaten badly. Even a ticked off Willow, filled to the brim with dark magic, hadn't been able to do much more then slow Glory down. Buffy was just happy that Dawn had been sent away when she had been.

It was obvious that Glory now knew that The Key was a person. She just didn't know who. Her minions had thought it was Spike, but the key had to be pure, and he was a vampire. Her skankiest and most wickedness then decided to take this opportunity to try and torture the information out of him, but he hadn't spilled. Next, Team Evil turned their attention on Tara, but struck out again.

"Let's just keep thinking, everyone," Giles encouraged. "Perhaps we should reassemble at The Magic Shop…"

Spike interrupted, "You can't take her on."

Buffy turned and watched as Giles tried to counter Spike's argument.

"Well, no, not yet. But if we keep looking…"

"No," she disagreed, "Spike's right. She's too strong, Giles. We're not going to win this with stakes or spells or pulling out some uranium power core. She's a god, and she's coming for us, so let's just not be here when she comes knocking."

"Run away?" Anya wondered, clearly surprised. "Finally, a sensible plan."

"I don't think that's what she meant," Xander explained.

Spike snorted. "Nope, that's exactly what the slayer meant, and I'd like to say that I'm all for that plan."

Xander turned to Buffy, silently asking her if Spike was right.

"We can't stay here," she pointed out. "Glory thinks one of you is The Key, and when she finds out that you're not, she'll kill all of us. Then it'll only be a matter of time before she goes after Dawn."

"We all understand the severity of the situation, but there has to be another…"

She didn't let Giles finish. "No! We stay; we die. All in favor of that plan say, 'Aye'."

No one spoke. Some of them clearly didn't like this plan, but they couldn't think of an alternative.

"All right. Nobody goes home or tells anybody we're leaving. Just pack up whatever supplies we need, and we're gone.

"Where are we going to go?" Willow murmured, speaking up for the first time.

Buffy shrugged. "I don't know."

The Godmother

Deeks sat in the armory, fiddling with the sat phone that Hetty had given him for Christmas. Taking a deep breath, he dialed the only programed number in the phone and silently prayed that she picked up.

Ring, ring, rin.. click. "Hello!"

"Hey," he blurted. "It's great to hear your voice, Kensi."

"You, too."

He could tell she was smiling. It really was great to hear her voice. It seemed like an eternity since the day she had left. He and Kensi had been figuring out their feelings for one another, then next thing he knew, she was gone. Off to who-knew-where doing who-knew-what.

"How are you?" Deeks wondered.

She chuckled. "Trying not to die of boredom. How about you? Working any new and exciting cases?"

Deeks told her everything. How they had gotten the case, how the victims had been killed, and about the serial killer's pattern. It wasn't the most romantic conversation that they had ever had, but… After he finished, there was complete silence on the other end of the line.

"Kensi? Are you still there?"

"I have to go," she blurted.

Deeks felt like he had been sucker punched. What had he done wrong?

"Was it something I said?"

"Oh, no! That's not what I meant." Kensi explained, clearly realizing that she'd hurt his feelings. "You're fine. It's just that I need to call Hetty."

"About?"

"Deeks, I don't think you're dealing with a serial killer."

The Godmother

Buffy and Spike had somehow gotten their hands on an RV, and after covering practically every window with tinfoil, collected the rest of the Scoobies and took off. They were well past the city limits when things took a turn for the worst.

A group of the Knights of Byzantium, the sworn destroyers of The Key, had somehow found them and were chasing them on their horses. They would have easily outrun them if their RV wasn't basically a dumpster on wheels. An arrow punched the wall next to where Spike was standing, causing him to cuss loudly.

"Giles!" Buffy shouted, as she peeked out the window.

"I see them," the ex-librarian confirmed.

The queasy victim of motion sickness, aka Xander, was out of it just enough to not exactly know what was going on. "See who?"

No one paid him much mind, especially Willow, who was busy trying to protect Tara.

"But I want to see the horsies!" Tara wailed.

Willow gently pulled her away from the window and guided Tara under the table for protection. "We'll see horsies later."

"Do we have any weapons?" Giles asked from the front.

"Hello, you're driving one!" Spike pointed out as he and Buffy pulled out the more pointy options.

Willow was mortified. "Don't hit the horsies!"

"We won't," Buffy reassured her before quietly instructing Giles to aim for the horsies. That led to the RV swerving back and forth, making it rather hard to walk about and causing Xander to be even more nauseous then before.

"Did we shake them?" Xander wondered.

His question was answered by a sword blade piercing the roof of the RV and almost impaling Xander in the head.

"Everyone down!" Buffy instructed as she made her way back to where Spike was.

The knight on the roof made the mistake of next planting his blade right next to the vampire, who grabbed it with both hands, keeping the sword from being pulled back up.

"Better hurry," he grunted painfully. "Can't hold onto this forever."

Following Spike's instructions, she hoisted herself through the hatch on the roof, unarmed. As she stood, the knight managed to wrench his sword up, resulting in a loud cry of pain below. Buffy didn't have time to acknowledge this before she found herself dodging the sharp blade on the roof of the still moving RV. Quickly, she managed to disarm the knight and throw him off, but there were more knights climbing onto the RV.

Down below, Anya had just finished bandaging up Spike's hands with some ripped up towels, when another knight smashed his way through the side window and tried to climb in. He didn't last long, as Anya began slamming him with a frying pan.

Buffy used the dropped sword to fight off knights until there were no more.

After stopping the RV, Giles turned in his seat to check on everyone, but when he turned back he found a spear wielding knight charging right for them. He tried get out of the front seat, but he wasn't fast enough. The spear was let loose, and it found its mark.

Buffy, too late, threw the sword, which impaled itself deep in the knight's gut. The last nuisance dealt with, she made her way back down and found a spear imbedded in Giles's right side. Carefully, Anya and Xander moved Giles out of the driver's seat and into the back where there was a bedroom. Spike offered to drive, but with his hand all cut up… Buffy would have loved to stay in the back with Giles, but instead she took the wheel. They needed to find a doctor, but going back wasn't an option, so they'd just have to press on.

Eric sat in his apartment, thinking about what he had learned. Hetty's goddaughter was from Sunnydale. What were the chances? Actually, Eric knew the calculated chance of this happening, but that wasn't the point. The point was that he, Eric Beale, had the chance to learn more about this mysterious Dawn Summers. But should he?

In the end curiosity beat caution. He reached over and made the call.

"Yes?"

"Hey, cuz. How are you?"

"Okay."

"Cool. So, my boss recently had to take in her goddaughter and I just found out that she's from Sunnydale. Would you happen to know a Dawn Summers?"

"Yeah. I hung out with her sister, so I saw her once in awhile."

His cousin's tone turned to concern as he recalled something Eric had said.

"Wait, Dawn's in LA? Why?"

"I don't know the details, but her mom died. They couldn't reach her dad, and her sister didn't want her, so Hetty took her in."

"What?"

It was barely a whisper, but with one word he conveyed so much emotion: Sorrow, confusion, and surprise. Eric felt horrible. He had been so focused on wanting to learn more about this Summers girl that he totally overlooked the possibility that if his cousin did know her that he would have also known her mother.

"Sorry."

"No," he explained. "That is sad, but it also makes no sense."

"What do you mean?" Eric wondered.

"They fought a lot, but Buffy would never send Dawn away."

Their conversation was abruptly interrupted by a shout on the other end of the line.

"Look what Mom got me!"

"That's awesome, but I'm on the phone. Give me a second." He turned his attention back to Eric. "Are you free tomorrow? I really need to know more about this."

"Sure. You could come over to my place. I usually don't work on the weekends, so anytime is fine."

"Cool."

The Godmother

As Daniel "Oz" Osbourne put away his phone, he thought about what he had just heard. Both Buffy and Dawn must be heartbroken if Joyce was dead. He hoped she hadn't been killed by a vampire or demon. That would be even worse, because then Buffy would know she could have done something. On the other hand, if it wasn't a supernatural death, then Buffy would again feel useless because there would have been nothing she could have done. There really was no good way to look at the situation.

Maybe that was the reason Buffy had sent Dawn away. She thought she had failed Joyce so she was trying to keep Dawn safe. That was the only reason Oz could think of that would result in Dawn coming to LA with her godmother.

On that topic, he hadn't known that the Summers girls had a godmother. That was one of the few things he was going to ask Eric about. Who was this Hetty? Maybe he could get in touch with Dawn. Oz had some questions for her, as well.

"Look!" the young boy insisted.

Now that he wasn't on the phone, Oz could fully appreciate the guitar in his cousin's hands. It was a nice dark blue with a black dragon across the front.

"That's great."

Jordy smiled. "Now I can learn how to play by myself!"

Oz had been teaching the dark-haired boy how to play his guitar, but now that he had his own, it was going to be much easier to teach Jordy.

His Aunt Maureen came in to the room, all dressed up for her business meeting.

"Thank you so much for watching him, Oz."

"It's cool," he shrugged.

"You have no idea how nerve-racking it was having him watched by a nanny. I would have felt so bad if she had been bitten."

Oz nodded, fully understanding what she meant. Like him, Jordy was a werewolf. It had actually been his cousin that had bitten him. He had been about seven at the time, but Oz wasn't holding any grudges against him, since Jordy had a slight medical condition. Since he had been a werewolf from such a young age, his cousin's first instinct was to bite people when he was upset with them. Even though Jordy was now eleven, he still would bite first, ask questions later.

"I'll be back at midnight. Jordy, you listen to Oz, understand?"

"Yes, Mom."

"Good. Have fun!"

And with that she was gone.

"Let's get that guitar tuned. Then, you can try it out," Oz decided.

The Godmother

Anya and Xander were in the back, doing their best to help stabilize Giles. Willow and Spike were looking through every spell book they could find for a healing spell, a non-stationary protection spell, or both.

The knights just wouldn't stop their attacks. No matter how many times Scoobies dealt with them, the knights just wouldn't stop coming. It was to be expected though. These knights had devoted their lives to finding The Key and destroying it. That's why they were attacking them. Like Glory, they thought that one of them was The Key.

Wait a moment.

"Hey, Willow! How fast could you put up a stationary protective field?"

"Um… Not that long, but that wouldn't do us any good," the red-head explained. "We need to keep moving. We should be able to reach the nearest hospital before sundown."

"Trust me. Do you need the RV to be still while you prep the spell?"

"Y-yes, but…"

Buffy cut her off. "Just tell me when you're ready!"

After a moment of silence, she heard sounds of people moving about behind her. Buffy just hoped that they could get it working in time.

"Ready!"

Buffy brought the vehicle to a halt, and Willow got to work. After the shield was set up and Buffy explained to them the plan, they didn't have to wait long for the knights to show up. They were completely surrounded on all sides, and according to Will the three old guys were trying to take down their protection. Silently, she hoped that they weren't that talented, because this might take some time.

Deciding that Valley Girl Buffy might drag the conversation, she reluctantly confronted the knights as In-Charge Buffy.

"Who's the leader of this group?" she demanded.

A semi-bald man in his forties stepped forward. Like the others, he looked like he had visited a Renne Faire, but you could tell this man was set apart. He had much nicer clothes, a blood-red cap, and a weird black tattoo on his forehead. That last one wasn't that strange because all the knights had that, too, only this guy's was a different symbol.

"I am General Gregor. What do you want?"

"Straight to the point," Buffy nodded in appreciation. "You've been chasing us for most of today, because you think we have The Key. Well, I'm sorry to inform you, but The Key's not here."

Gregor chuckled. "You expect me to believe this? Give me proof."

"How?" she wondered cautiously. "It's impossible to just look at someone and know that she's special."

The General turned and summoned two of the knights. The first had dark skin and was bald. The second… There was something wrong with the guy. With a start, Buffy realized that he was acting like Tara. He had to be one of Glory's victims. But why did he want…

"I'll only drop the field if you swear not to harm anyone."

After the General swore by some weird names that he and his men would not harm them, she had Willow drop the spell. They all passed the non-key test, and after the knights were satisfied that they hadn't hidden her somewhere, they left. But not before having a healer look over Giles, and give him a temporary fix up.

Buffy jumped back into the driver's seat and took off. They had lost a good hour, but now they didn't have to keep looking over their shoulders. They could still make it.

"I can't believe that worked," Buffy said, realizing for the first time just how crazy her plan had been.

The Godmother

"We still have them?"

The knight nodded and showed Gregor the screen. Is showed a small dot moving down a line.

"Modern technology is such an amazing thing."

The Godmother

Hetty was still looking into Mr. Giles's past when she got the call. It was her sat phone, and only one person had that number.

"Hello, Miss Blye."

"Hetty, Deeks just told me about the case their working on, and it's not a serial killer."

"Well then, what do you think it is?" Hetty inquired, genuinely curious.

"Promise me you'll hear me out," she begged.

Hetty was beginning to grow concerned.

"I have always afforded you the benefit of the doubt."

Kensi took a deep breath before continuing. It didn't take long for Hetty to realize why she had been so concerned.


	12. Chapter 12 – Buffy Breaks Stuff a Bit To

Chapter 12 – Buffy Breaks Stuff a Bit Too Much

 _ **NCIS: Los Angeles belongs to Shane Brennan. Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon.**_

"Sorry about this," Eric apologized over the phone. "I usually don't work on the weekends, so whatever this is, it must be important."

"It's cool. Just let me know when you're available," Oz reassured his cousin.

"Will do. Thanks for understanding."

After Eric hung up he breathed a sigh of relief. Right after his conversation with his cousin the night before, he had realized that there really wasn't much he could've told Oz without permission first. What an awkward conversation that would've been.

Once parked, the young man ran as fast as he could all the way up to OP center. The rest of the team was gathered in front of the floor-to-ceiling screen.

"Hey, what's going…?"

Eric stared at the face on the screen as a smile spread across his face.

"What's up, Eric?" wondered Kensi. "I see Hetty still hasn't managed to get you into a pair of pants."

Eric couldn't get the stupid grin off his face. "You know perfectly well that me and those leg traps don't get along."

Everyone, including he, laughed. Joy overwhelmed him. That was the only word to describe all the emotions he was feeling. Their family, if only temporarily, was back together.

"As much as I hate to interrupt this wonderful moment, there is a very important matter we must attend to," Hetty sighed. "Miss Blye, please inform them of the situation."

Taking his normal seat next to Nell, he prepared himself for anything. Whatever was going on, Kensi was clearly nervous about it.

"Understand that what I'm about to tell you isn't baised on stories I've heard, but on things I've seen with my own two eyes."

Everyone looked at each other in confusion.

"Kensi, I don't know what you're talking about, but you know that we trust you, right?" Callan reassured her.

She nodded, "I know, but this is going to be hard to accept." After a deep, calming breath, Kensi continued. "A serial killer didn't kill Agent Harper, a werewolf did."

The room went absolutely silent.

"Why does that make so much sense?" Deeks asked the ceiling.

"All the murders were during a full moon," Hetty pointed out.

Nell shook her head, "I'm sorry, Kensi, but that's impossible. Werewolves are not…"

Not wanting Kensi and Nell to get into a debate, Eric risked his own life and interrupted. "You said you'd seen this before?"

Through the screen, she nodded, "Back when I was fourteen years old, a man named Thomas Wheeler showed up at my family's door. He introduced himself as a member of The Watchers' Counsel, a group of people in Britain that have dedicated their whole lives around finding, training, and supervising certain young girls. Apparently, it had been determined that I had the potential to become one of those said girls."

"What made them so special?" Sam inquired.

"Mr. Wheeler explained it like this, 'Into every generation a Slayer is born: one girl in all the world, a chosen one. She alone will wield the strength and skill to fight the vampires, demons, and the forces of darkness; to stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their numbers. She is the Slayer.' And as I already said, they had found that I was a potential Slayer. I was trained for almost two years in preparation."

Eric's mind was going into overdrive. Werewolves, vampires, demons, Slayers…? Was it possible?

"If Kensi says it's true, and Hetty believes her, then it's definitely true," Eric thought to himself.

Finally, Deeks asked the big question lingering in the back of everyone's minds. "So… Are you a Slayer?"

Kensi shook her head. "No. After a Slayer dies, a new one is chosen who is fifteen years old. Since the current Slayer was still alive when I turned sixteen there was no way for me to become a Slayer. Mr. Wheeler returned to England and I tried to move on with my life."

Eric nodded in understanding. Kensi's father, Donald Blye, had worked for a special operations unit called Oscar-Sierra. At age fifteen, her dad was murdered while protecting a journalist who was going to expose the chief of the Oscar-Sierra unit, Peter Clairemont, for killing a civilian while intoxicated.

"So you've actually fought against a werewolf?" Nell asked, the slightest bit of doubt in her voice.

"No way," Kensi laughed nervously. "I watched one from a distance. You have to remember, a werewolf might be a horrifying beast during the full moon, the rest of the time he or she is a normal person."

Hetty spoke up. "Unless this person is deliberately letting himself to kill these women, the most we should do is find a way to restrain this person during the full moon."

"If we find ourselves face-to-face with this werewolf, and it tries to kill us?" Sam checked.

"The same in any other similar situation," Hetty instructed, "defend yourself."

"Alright then, our first step is to go over everything again with this new information," Callan declared. "Sam, Deeks, and I will go through all the files on the victims while Eric and Nell reexamine the footage with a fine-tooth comb. And Kensi, it's good to see you again."

She smiled. "Same."

After goodbyes were said, the connection was cut and the large screen went dark. Everyone got to work. It looked like he wasn't going to be hanging out with Oz for a while. Speaking of which...

"Hey, Hetty." He turned around, and she was gone. Leaving the OP center, Eric noticed her sitting in her office on the phone. Sometimes he was certain that Hetty could teleport.

"I'll be right back, Nell."

The Godmother

When Hetty saw that the caller I.D. on her cell said, "Not Provided", she raised an eyebrow in surprise. The only people who should have her number were people in her caller I.D.

The director of the L.A. branch of N.C.I.S. answered the phone, "And who might this be?"

"Hey, Hetty!"

"Elizabeth?"

"Yup," replied a nervous young woman. "Are you busy? 'Cause, I could really use your help right about now."

Hetty blinked, "What could you possibly have done that you would need my help? I can't exactly jump in a plane and…"

"And you don't have to," her goddaughter cut her off. "It's only an hour and a half drive to this small town called Ojai."

A smiling Mr. Beale gestured to get her attention, but Hetty pointed at a chair in front of her desk where he waited quietly.

"Why are you…?"

Again Elizabeth interrupted, "Basically, I'm under arrest for a whole lot of property damage. Is there any chance you could help me out?"

"That depends. Why did you inflict all that damage?"

After a long hesitation, Elizabeth relied, "As crazy as it might sound, it was self-defense and I was also protecting Dawn."

Leaning back in her chair, Hetty sighed. "I'm rather tied up at the moment, but I can certainly send an agent to assist."

Once the call was finished and she had tasked an agent to handle the situation, she turned her attention to the rather concerned-looking young man sitting before her.

"Is everything alright?" he wondered.

"That is yet to be determined. Now me, Mr. Beale, what can I help you with?"

Eric explained that he had discovered that his cousin knew her goddaughter, and his cousin had a bunch of questions that Eric wasn't sure he could answer because of national security. Mr. Beale added that his cousin might want to see Dawn. Hetty thought it over. As far as she knew a friendly face wouldn't hurt.

"I don't see any harm. Ask your cousin if he's free tomorrow."

After Mr. Beale returned to his work in the OP center, Hetty began to think over the situation with Elizabeth. What had she meant when she said she was protecting her sister? On a hunch, she opened her laptop and checked the news to see if anything interesting had happened in Ojai, California. On the screen, large bold letters screamed, " **Teen Demolish Half a City in Less than an Hour** ". What on earth had happened?!

The Godmother

Buffy thought over everything that had happened.

When they had pulled into the small town, Glory had popped out of nowhere and slammed into the RV, sending the vehicle and all its occupants flying. Somehow, much to everyone's surprise, none of them were hurt that badly, so while the others retreated to protect Giles and Tara, Buffy had stuck around to try and slice the blonde bimbo into bits. The hellgoddess kept shrieking over and over again that she needed to kill The Key. That's when things went totally of the wacky.

Glorificus had been about to punch Buffy in the nose when the Slayer found herself looking at one of the doctors at Sunnydale Hospital named Ben Wilkinson, only instead of wearing his normal hospital scrubs he was in Glory's dress. Before she'd been able to process what was going on, the hellgoddess was back. She nailed Buffy between the eyes before stumbling backward with her hands grabbing handfuls of hair and shouting at Ben, who wasn't there. Eventually Buffy pieced together that there was some sort of magical barrier that had separated the hellgoddess and Ben for years, but it was beginning to break down. And from what Buffy had heard, they had been stuck together for a really, REALLY long time, and they totally didn't like each other, but they couldn't exist in this dimension without the other. They just kept swapping back and forth between the two bodies, having this big argument with each other, and somehow Glory was still kicking her butt, even with Ben trying to stop his darker side. Basically, they fought, destroyed a lot of stuff, and Buffy won in the end when she swung her sword at Glorificus' head and found the blade halfway through Ben's head. Since the guy was human, he couldn't exactly survive an attack like that, and without Ben the oh-so-annoying one couldn't come back.

Now Buffy sat in a jail cell, waiting for Hetty's help to arrive. She had been charged with a bunch of stuff, including murder. None of the Scoobies were in trouble because they hadn't been there. They'd all felt really bad about leaving her alone but, if you really thought about it, Spike was the only one of them that could've possibly gone toe-to-toe with Glory, but he'd been hurt by those stupid Knights of Byzantium.

After what felt like an eternity, Buffy heard two people moving her way, but she kept her eyes closed as she pretended to be taking a nap.

"Hey, wake up," bellowed Sheriff Lake, a pudgy old man who hated Buffy. The feeling was so mutual, which was why she ignored him.

The Sheriff banged something against the bars. "Oi!"

The Slayer exaggerated a fake yawn and finally opened her eyes. Right behind Sheriff Lake was a dark haired man of average height, but compared to her he was basically a giant.

Rising from the cell's bed, she gave the two men her best valley girl smile. "Is there something I can help you with?" As if she would ever help the short cop.

To Buffy's total surprise, the clearly annoyed sheriff unlocked the cell door.

"You're free to go," grumbled the mostly bald cop.

She blinked, "Huh?"

The taller man smiled, "All the charges have been dropped."

The Slayer didn't have to be told a third time. After quickly getting her stuff, Buffy and the government agent made their way over to the hotel where her friends were waiting.

Her companion offered her his hand.

"Nate Getz."

She shook the extended hand with a smile.

"Buffy. Thanks for helping me out."

"No problem." Agent Getz nodded, "But I am curious. How do you know Hetty? Not many people outside of our agency get special help like this."

"I've known Hetty as long as I can remember. She's my godmother."

He raised an eyebrow, but he also had a look on his face that she just couldn't place. It was a mixture of understanding and… pity? What the heck?

"Okay, next question. How did you manage to destroy this whole place by yourself?"

Crap.

"That's classified," Buffy stated casually.

Agent Getz laughed, "If you don't want to tell me, that's all right. Besides, I'm fairly certain that I have a higher security clearance then you do."

Buffy couldn't help it. She flashed a "I know more than you do" smile, and just said, "You have no idea."

At first he chuckled, but then he looked at her again and realized that she wasn't joking. Buffy didn't like that look. It reminded her to much of some doctors she had known way back when.

Not long after she became the Slayer, Buffy had spilled to her parents everything. But they had thought she was crazy, so they put her into a psychiatric facility. The man next to her was analyzing her like they had.

"You're a shrink, aren't you?"

He was taken aback, but nodded. "While I am a field agent, I do have a background as a 'shrink'." He opened the door of the hotel for her. "You don't like that?"

Not wanting to deal with any mind games, Buffy sent her best glare his way before speed-walking towards the stairs. Agent Getz was left far behind, since Slayers can move really fast.

She already knew what room the Scoobies were staying at, so Buffy made a beeline for their door. Xander answered, and broke out in a huge smile before immediately hug attacking her.

"Oh my gosh, Buffy, we were so worried," he gushed, before pulling away with a panicked look on his face. "You didn't break out, did you?!"

"Buffy broke out of jail?" screamed Anya from somewhere in the apartment.

Then everyone was talking at once. It took forever to calm everyone down. By then, Agent Getz, had caught up, much to her annoyance.

"No, I didn't break out of jail, I just called up my godmother, and she pulled some strings to get me out," she reassured them, while vaguely gesturing to Agent Getz behind her, as if that explained everything.

Spike looked at her in surprise. "Your godmother got them to drop the murder charge? Who is this lady?"

"Wait, what?" Agent Getz butted in. "I didn't get them to drop any charge for murder."

"Well, if you didn't, then who did?" Willow wondered.


End file.
